US Representative Jason Chaffetz, whose name is associated with efforts to torpedo the advancement of online gambling in the United States, made a shock announcement this week. The Chairman for the House Oversight Committee announced that he would not be seeking re-election to Congress when his term expires in 2018. Chaffetz has vehemently dispelled several rumors currently swirling regarding the reasons for his decision, including that he has been involved in an as-of-yet-unpublished scandal.
There is no love lost between Chaffetz and the online gambling community. Chaffetz, a Republican from Utah, has been a leading sponsor of legislation calling for an end to online gambling in the US. He is infamous for his role in authoring and attempting to introduce RAWA, the Restoration of America’s Wire Act. RAWA was introduced to see a reversal of the Department of Justice’s opinion that the federal Wire Act of 1961 applied only to nation-wide sports betting. This opinion led to a number of states scrambling to push their own online gambling legislation. RAWA seeks to reverse this decision.
Chaffetz’s sponsorship of RAWA was backed financially by Sheldon Adelson, the Las Vegas gambling tycoon who has been the most vocal opponent of online gambling in the history of the industry in the US. However, despite millions of dollars poured into his efforts, Adelson has been unsuccessful over the years to gain real traction for anti-online gambling legislation.
In the meantime, in the days following his shock announcement, Chaffetz has been busy dismissing rumors that there is something more sinister behind his decision to retire. When asked by Politico whether his retirement was due to a scandal, Chaffetz strongly denied this. “Not in any way, shape or form,” he is quoted as saying. “I’ve been given more enemas by more people over the last eight years than you can possibly imagine. From the Secret Service to the Democratic Party. I am who I am. If they had something really scandalous, it would’ve come out a long, long time ago.”
Instead, Chaffetz has simply said that he wants to spend more time with his family and therefore he won’t be seeking re-election. He has even brought up the possibility that he won’t complete his term of office and may retire before his term is up.
“It’s hard for people to believe, I really do want to be with my family more,” he said. “Maybe it’s more a midlife crisis more than anything else.”
